14 DAY TRIAL // Dean Hall, the creator of the very popular survival title DayZ, says that the video game is set to get access to a wide variety of new content during the rest of 2014, all of it designed to give players more options when dealing with the challenge of survival.
VG247 quotes the developer as saying during the EGX Rezzed event that a big new update for the title might be offered as soon as next week or, worst-case scenario, in the first week of April.
The biggest new features introduced will include bows, crossbows and arrows that can be individually tracked by the player who fires them.
They are described as a labor of love from the development team at Bohemia Interactive, which has apparently been inspired by The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
The new tools will allow players to hunt with more efficiency and will also introduce a new set of tools that can be used stealthily against powerful enemies who cannot be approached head on.
Another element that will soon be added to DayZ are fireplaces, which will eventually be turned into ovens in order to give players options to cook food.
Persistent objects, neutral animals with advanced behaviors and ragdoll physics will be added in the second quarter of 2014 and players can expect to encounter both companions like dogs and horses and powerful threats like wolves and bears.
Apparently, there are also changes coming to the way the zombies are behaving in DayZ, with more routines included in order to make them more of a threat.
Bohemia Interactive also has plans to tweak the way loot in the game works, with EVE Online apparently offering the inspiration to control it centrally in order to create more competition between players.
Finally, both vehicles and attachments for weapons will be added in the third and the fourth quarters of the year, with helicopters and boats also planned, although it will be hard for players to use them.
Dean Hall has already announced that during the coming year he will leave Bohemia Interactive in order to return to his native country and put together a new studio.
He says he has plans to once again seek to create the perfect multiplayer-focused game experience.
DayZ will continue to be developed by Bohemia Interactive and the company says that the old mod turned standalone title has become its biggest selling game.